First Digit

This shows the range the device belongs to. 3 is used the entry level “Essential” models, 5 on the mid range “Mainstream”, and 7 the high end “Premium” devices. Also referred to as the 3000, 5000, and 7000 series.

Second Digit

The second number indicates the screen size. A 2 means the screen is roughly 12” diagonal, 3 means 13”, 4 means 14” and so on. For example the Latitude 7280 has a 12.5” inch screen

Third Digit

The third digit indicates the generation. At time of writing (Jan 2017) we’re currently seeing the tail of the generation 7 models (primarily based on the Intel Skylake chipsets), and the start of the generation 8 (primarily “Kaby Lake” but some Skylake devices will be available for Windows 7 compatibility)being released. Models are roughly equivalent between generations- for example the 7270 is superseded by the 7280 both are premium laptops with roughly 12 inch screens.

Fourth Digit

The final digit currently denotes the type of device. A 0 indicates a traditional laptop, a 5 indicates a device with a detachable keyboard (the style of the Microsoft Surface Pro)- for example the Latitude 7275, and a 9 indicates the new convertible, fold-back, device (similar in style to the Lenovo Yoga devices).

Our office just had a pile of these in for disposal and as part of our process we remove the Hard Drives. This isn’t quite as straightforward as we’d like, so in case anyone else comes across this issue, here’s a quick how-to guide.

If you want to boot an Acer Veriton N260G off the network- for example to deploy a standard OS build- you may find that there’s no network card listed in the F12 boot menu. If this is the case you’ll need to make a quick config change in the BIOS.

Turn on the computer and press the delete key on the POST/Acer screen to get into the CMOS Setup Utility. In here open the “Integrated Peripherals” section and change “Onboard LAN Option ROM” to “Enabled”. Then press F10 and select OK to Save and exit.

The computer then reboots, press F12 to get the boot menu to appear and you should see something like “Network: Yukon PXE” listed.